Fossett team continues land-speed record effort

Even though adventurer Steve Fossett went missing last September and was declared legally dead last month, his land-speed racing team’s efforts to capture the world land-speed record have continued.

According to land-speed news site www.landracing.com, the crew recently brought out its jet-powered car for a test-run at El Mirage in Southern California. Though the crew could not get the car started for the scheduled test run (which they blamed on poor fuel), photos show that the car appears only slightly revised from the configuration in which former owner Craig Breedlove made his attempts at the record; in their pursuit of 800-plus miles per hour, the crew has fitted the 48-foot car with a single 40,000hp S&S Turbine LM-1500 jet engine. Static tests of the engine and car have already been completed, and the team may return to El Mirage in the next 30 days.

The team also announced a short list of eight driver candidates to helm the car in Fossett’s place. While aviation speed record holder Lee Behel will serve as test driver for the car, a host of current land-speed record holders, stunt racers, pilots and professional drag racers — both male and female — have applied to fill the jet car’s seat.

Meanwhile, www.landracing.com also reported that the Bureau of Land Management recently placed about 100 cubic yards of salt about six inches thick at the end of the access road to the Bonneville salt flats in an effort to fill the potholes and cure the flooding that has taken place at that location the last few years.

Finally, Mickey Thompson Tires announced that it will offer three sizes of tires developed specifically for land-speed racing through April 15. Though not cheap ($720-$760 per tire), land-speed tires rarely enter production, based on such slight demands for the highly specialized rubber.

“Mickey Thompson enjoyed every aspect of racing at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats,” said Ken Warner, Mickey Thompson’s vice president of sales. “And he would be very pleased that our company can participate by supplying tires again in 2008.”

(This post originally appeared in the March 20, 2008, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)